Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Classic Blues by yourself (on acoustic or electric guitar) – Full of Blues lick ideas – Guitar Lesson EP612

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn a stand-alone blues composition that requires no jam track, just grab any guitar in standard tuning and follow along with this classic Blues in the key of A. Lots of licks to steal in this one!

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

Part 2 - For Premium Members

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Slow Walkthrough

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Video Tablature Breakdown

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Comments

    • Rob M says

      Some how, more things are clicking today. I don’t know whether it’s this great lesson where you are sharing lots of c-a-g-e-d magic that’s behind the progressions or what. But I can ‘see’ it like never before! I swear you shared these things in almost every lesson, but today was a light bulb day. Thanks so much for persisting with the slow learners in the bunch!

  3. Donald R says

    Nicely done Brian. Curious about the “blues” chord structure sequences. This example has the classic, 4 bars of the 1 chord, 2 bars of the 4 chord, 2 bars of the 1 chord and so forth. I’ve been working on the Swiss Army Knife EP 598 and the chord sequences is quite different yet sounds great as usual. I’ve wondered if the are standard sequences? Ways they can they differ effectively? When do you use a 7th chord vs a major chord and when is it acceptable to substitute the 1,4 and 5 chords with alternatives?

    • Brian says

      The structure can always be different – lots of ways to structure a blues. sometimes it’s 1,4, 5 sometimes it’s 1, 5, 4 – sometimes 12 bars, sometimes 8, some of the blues guys will just throw in an extra bar or 2 wherever they feel like it. You can use a dom 7th chord over any of the chords if the key is major

  5. Steve M says

    Brian, I always absolutely love it when you return to these stand alone 12 bar blues that can be either acoustic or electric. I find there some of the easiest lessons to learn and then apply to a song or something original. A question I have is when you are playing harmony on two adjacent strings are you hybrid picking or just hitting both strings with the pick.? (Sometimes when I do the latter I think I may not get enough sound from the second string )

  7. Charles S says

    I feel like I am able to assimilate musical ideas better through your “by yourself/no accompaniment” lessons than the others. Not to say I don’t get the benefit from the other lesson types, but I really like studying your original compositions with their musical breakdowns and insights.

  10. Mike R says

    Really enjoy these blues tunes and all the different variations you come up with. I will play this one a lot and make up some of my own as well. Some of your past lesson licks start showing up in these blues, so I guess I’m learning something. Just have to build up my speed and strength but tunes like this are great for that.

  15. Dale G says

    Love this old school blues style as well. Although I like bending pull offs and hammer ons too I appreciate getting back to basics!Lots of licks I need to add to my playing. Thanks again for putting out another great lesson!

  21. Daniel H says

    I love blues lessons like these but it is like drinking from a firehose! Its almost too much to absorb. Brian, please feel free to break lessons like this into smaller pieces. The content is awesome but the volume of it is overwhelming. But you are still my gifted teacher! Thank you for your lessons.

  23. Clifford M says

    Hi Brian, I’m a new member and learning a lot from your lessons and this one is awesome – thank you. I am struggling a bit with the stretch at bar 4 but think I just need more slow practice and be mindful of my hand position – my pinky keeps muting the string below 😊.

  24. Mark W says

    I love these classic blues stand alones, which give you loads of little take aways…… Must admit really struggling to get my fingers around the little Robert Johnson A7 lick in bar 4 but gonna focus on it and try and nail it this time, as that comes up in a few lessons I have tried but I have substituted it for something easier and less of a stretch for me…… Many Thanx Brian

    • Timothy M says

      Same here Mark!

      The only way I can manage it with my old hands is to hit the 5th fret with my index finger, lift my hand, and hit the 3rd fret notes with my pointer finger. So, I’m kind of rocking my hand back and forth between the 5th and 3rd frets.

      I would love to play it like Brian does, but I just can’t get my hands to function that way. 🙂

        • Mark W says

          I have tried it like that too but seems bit messy…. Having a bit of a focused practice on it, but I too have old hands and it hell of a stretch.

          Good luck and keep trying, I’m sure we get it soon……..?!

          • Clifford M says

            Looks like we three have a common problem with the Bar 4 stretch. I can almost make the stretch but my “almost” sounds terribly compared to Brian’s. What I’ve been doing lately is isolating bars and short riffs that give be problem and using these as a micro practice exercises separate to the complete song. Not been doing this long enough to see any major progress but I am noticing some small improvements – learning guitar takes time and persistence.

  25. Robert G says

    Hi, Brian,
    Great lesson! Classic acoustic blues – Love it!
    Thanks for relating the licks back to the CAGED chord shapes…helps me to navigate the fretboard as I’m going from one to the other; it’s not so dark and mysterious anymore.

  26. Lance J says

    Great lesson. The most striking thing for me initially is how complicated I have made things for myself over the years (big leaps across the fret board, complicated fingering of passages, all of which I couldn’t ever reliably play well). Within minutes I was playing these licks you demonstrated which sound cool as and are so accessible.

    This is no small thing. I’ve been playing guitar for decades and these lessons finally help me feel like I can properly hit my stride. Thank you!

  28. michael f says

    Great lesson. The right balance between some sweet sounding base licks, standard if you will in the blues, with some tweaking the second time around. That D lick the second time around for example goes to the flat 7 after playing the 6th note the first time around. With these 2 options solidly grounded, one might then improvise a bit around that chord, perhaps changing the timing or adding another note while at the same time not venturing too far from this “base” lick.

  32. Michael D says

    Brian:

    Thanks for the time you spend explaining where you go next on the fretboard and explaining how and why you make these decisions. I have trouble “seeing” the possibilities on the fretboard and your explanations are slowly changing my ability to improvise for the better.

    It really helps me when you say “I looked at the video and this is what I actually played…” as I spend a lot of time looking at what you appear to be fingering on the fretboard and attempt to correlate that with the handouts. What this makes me realize is that there are many different way to express the same idea and that what sounds good is a matter of choice and interpretation. In other words, I am learning from you not to be so literal with my fingering selections but to “hear” what sounds good and play it regardless of the notation.

    I appreciate your efforts on our behalf.

    Thanks,

    Mike Dobson

  33. Chuck S says

    Another great lesson Brian. As usual, it takes me a couple of days to digest all your little insights, but well worth the time. Super insightful.

    Question from the second video (measure 14 on the tab; around 3:14 in the video) where you are talking about hitting the flat 7th to add some spice ala Stevie Ray Vaughan. You are hammering on string 3 from the 5th to 6th fret. So, that would be a Db, but you are really still working off the A chord at that point which would imply the flat 7th is a Gb vice Db. I am having trouble connecting the dots here and not sure what I am missing = any chance you can enlighten?

  35. daniel M says

    Brian, I really think you have found the right mix. I do as you implied go back to your earlier lessons threading out the 1,4,5. Because I love it! For established tunes I go elsewhere. However, they may with due respect teach me how to play songs which my friends and family want to hear. My growth as a musician has been through you and i continue to support your creative work in advancing this darn six string instrument.

  39. RIFF DIGGER says

    7:02 of the Part 1 YouTube video at measure 4 on the Robert Johnson stretch sometimes I think Brian has rubber fingers. To barre at the 2nd fret and pedal to the 5th and 4th with the ring finger and not muffle the D string is not easy. Even to get that C#, A, G triad to sound clear on the stretch I find difficult. And it hurts. Will loop on the Slice and try to get the fingering clean, I guess. (Ring finger stretch’s over 4 frets with index barre)

  42. Clay W says

    Like nearly every other commenter, your teaching style is superb, your music, and the insights you share are invaluable! And like you, I love the blues!! Keep it up! Great work!

  43. Andreas W says

    I can only repeat the commenter, every time it´s getting better and better the more we do that stuff!
    And I am able now to put different lessons together to make some songs, just great. I love it, keep on bluesing

  45. Peter C says

    Brian, I really loved this lesson (612).. it came fairly easy to me until I realized I have been incorporating a couple of those licks in my own playing that I picked up from you in earlier lessons!
    From Robert Johnson, to Clapton, to Brian and on to the rest of us. You have a way of blending them in new material seamlessly! I really love the stand alone blues lessons.
    On a different note, even though I have been playing many years, I’ve always avoided (frustrating!) fingerpicking. I finally dug in and gave a try with your Chet Atkins piece (#550 I believe).
    It finally clicked and I’m loving it and have even gone on to slightly more difficult pieces.
    Thanks again, Brian… looking forward to more!

  46. Patrick M says

    I really like your teaching style. I want to go back and look at some of your earlier blues lessons. The blues is kind of growing on me. I typically finger pic Jim Croce, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, etc. However, I am really drawn to the blues. Thanks.

  47. Jack W says

    Love all these Lessons….what I love about your instruction is the reasoning and explanation of how the runs and licks are constructed….many instructors teach the HOW, but you are the only one I have found that teaches the WHY in a such a simple understandable manner! This is so enlightening!! Keep them coming my friend!

  48. Evan O says

    I really enjoy these individual style lessons without accompaniment — they’re my favorite! I’ve always wanted to play individual parts that combine both lead and rhythm so they sound complete on their own. I hope you keep making more of these in country, blues, and bluegrass. They’re fantastic!

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